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Demand for Cybersecurity Workers Outstripping Supply

Third Annual Burning Glass Analysis Finds Signs Problem May Persist

BOSTON, July 30, 2015–American employers have realized the vital importance of cybersecurity and are hiring workers to catch up. However, as employers scramble to build their cybersecurity workforce, a worker shortage is emerging that may require long-term solutions, according to a new labor market analysis by Burning Glass Technologies.

Cybersecurity hiring is still concentrated in government agencies and defense contractors, but in the third edition of its annual report on the cybersecurity job market, Burning Glass found that hiring has boomed in industries handling consumer data like Finance (up 137% in the past five years), Health Care (up 121%), and Retail (up 89%). This has driven up salaries for cybersecurity workers, but it also means that jobs stay open longer.

Key findings include:

In 2014, there were 238,158 postings for cybersecurity-related jobs nationally. Cybersecurity jobs account for 11% of all IT jobs and have grown three times faster than IT jobs overall in 2010-14.

On average, cybersecurity jobs command a $6,500 annual salary premium over other IT jobs and take 8% longer to fill.

Positions calling for financial skills or a security clearance are even harder to fill than other cybersecurity jobs. Jobs calling for a security clearance take 10% longer to fill than other cybersecurity positions, on average, and positions calling for knowledge of accounting or Sarbanes-Oxley regulations take 17% longer.

More than one third (35%) of cybersecurity jobs call for an industry certification, compared to 23% of IT jobs overall. Eight in 10 demand a bachelor’s degree, and roughly the same number call for three years’ experience or more.

“Employers are demanding high skill levels for cybersecurity workers: more education, more certifications, more experience, and more industry knowledge than other IT careers,” said Matthew Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass Technologies. “These aren’t problems that lend themselves to quick-fix solutions, and it suggests that the shortage of cybersecurity workers is likely to persist, at least until the education and training system catches up.”